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Scratch

Scratch

A weekly newsletter of interviews, essays, and real conversations about how writers are surviving.

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Latest

May 13
green and white and black tiles on a subway station wall, in the middle a yellow arch pattern with a white background and WAY OUT with a black arrow.

Why Can’t Writers Seem to Quit Substack?

And why haven’t I done it yet?
22 min read
May 06
an array of zines, an art print, a cd and a bookmark laid out artfully on a brown wooden tabletop.

I Don't Miss Twitter, I Miss Zines

Manjula goes to the Santa Rosa Zine Fest and finds more future than nostalgia.
14 min read
Apr 29
Multiple clipped headlines from various news sources are collaged together with rianbow colors and filters over a dark grey background.

List Full of Daggers

What we stand to lose when paperback nonfiction disappears.
14 min read
Apr 21
Photo of a bunch of old flip phones spilling out of a yellow NiKON bag. Beside it is a well-loved black rotary telephone.

Smartphones, Dumbphones, and Delusions of Platform-Building

“I don’t actually need my smartphone to write, but do I need it in order to be seen as a writer?”
13 min read
Apr 14
a photograph of earth from the Artemis mission, black background adn a crescent of earth: blue, green and white clouds are visible.

Links We Shared When We Thought the World Was Ending

Taking the temperature of the literary internet.
7 min read
Apr 07
An outdoor group photo of four people standing in front of a mural with exasperated thought/speech bubbles above their heads. The bottom left reads "The Scratch Group Chat"

Should We All Be Working Retail?

And could we even get hired?
16 min read
Mar 31
A photo collage of four screenshots of text exchanges and one portrait of a brown-skinned woman with gray hair wearing a black shirt and linen pants.

Angela Garbes on Money, Memoir, and Elastic-Waist Pants: The Scratch Interview

“Anything that I spend my money on is better than cocaine.”
24 min read
Mar 24
A sculpture made of a cement rectangle, with human figures in bronze emerging from the top with arms raised.

The Job I Want Doesn’t Exist Anymore

What is lost when arts criticism dies?
12 min read
Mar 17
A bumper sticker that reads "EAT THE RICH! (EXCEPT ME IF I GET RICH)"

Self-Employment, Taxes, and Shame: An Anonymous Author and Tax Preparer Answers Our Questions

“There is no moral component to not knowing how much you owe.”
20 min read
Mar 10
An outdoor group photo of four people standing in front of a mural with exasperated thought/speech bubbles above their heads. The bottom left reads "The Scratch Group Chat"

THE GROUP CHAT: How We Get By

In which we say the money part out loud.
16 min read
Mar 03
A photo of bookshelves inside Green Apple Books. A sign on top reads "Poetry" and "Business," and has the arrows pointing in different directions.

The New Scratch

How is anyone who writes making any money right now?
5 min read

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